Important Links

Overview

IDRL 404, Rights at Work: Grievance Arbitration, is a three-credit, senior-level course examining how disputes in unionized workplaces are resolved. When unionized workers discover a violation of a collective agreement, they may ask their union to file a grievance. Grievance arbitration is the final step in this process, wherein the parties agree to have a neutral third party (an arbitrator or arbitration board) resolve their differences. Grievance arbitration (also known as "rights arbitration") casts a long shadow over how employers and unions negotiate and interpret collective agreements. It is therefore essential that union and management labour relations representatives have a thorough grounding in the principles, conduct, and changing face of grievance arbitration.

Outline

IDRL 404 has four units:

Unit 1: An Introduction to Grievance Arbitration

Unit 2: Substantive Issues in Grievance Arbitration

Unit 3: Procedural Issues in Grievance Arbitration

Unit 4: Preparing and Presenting a Grievance at Arbitration

Evaluation

To receive credit for IDRL 404, you must complete and submit three assignments and achieve a composite course grade of at least “D” (50 percent).
The weighting of the composite course grade is as follows.

Assignment 1

30%

Assignment 2

30%

Assignment 3

40%

Total

100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.